That is guru

Expressions researched:
"that is guru" |"this is guru" |"that is a guru" |"this is the guru" |"that is the guru"

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 1.24-25 -- London, July 20, 1973: This is guru. Guru means he'll always enlighten the disciple with the light of śāstra. Not that he will say, "There is no need of śāstra. I am incarnation. I, whatever speak, you take it." No. This is rascal. You should immediately, who has no reference to the śāstra, immediately take him as a rascal number one. This is the conclusion.

Lecture on BG 2.7 -- London, August 7, 1973: One must approach guru. And guru means Kṛṣṇa originally. Tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ [SB 1.1.1]. Janmādyasya yataḥ anvayāt itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ svarāt. You have to approach. That is guru.

Lecture on BG 2.7 -- London, August 7, 1973: Who requires a guru? Guru's not a fashion. "Oh, I have got a guru. I shall make a guru." Guru means one who's serious. Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta. One has to seek out a guru. Why? Jijñāsu śreya uttamam. One who is inquisitive of the Supreme. Not guru make a fashion. Just like we keep a dog, fashion. Similarly, we keep a guru. That is not guru karma (?). "Guru will act according to my decision." Not like that. Guru means one who can give you Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. Kṛṣṇa sei tomāra. Because Kṛṣṇa is guru.

Lecture on BG 2.11 (with Spanish translator) -- Mexico, February 11, 1975: The guru strictly follows the Vedic injunction and teaches the same thing to his disciple. That is guru.

Lecture on BG 4.23 -- Bombay, April 12, 1974: You hear from.... Hear from whom? Hear from whom? That tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet: [MU 1.2.12] "Hear from guru." Who is guru? Guru. Brahma-niṣṭham. Brahma-niṣṭham. Guru means who knows God and fully engaged in His service. That is guru. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. Śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham. And he has also heard from his guru.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Bombay, December 20, 1975: So our request is that every one of you become a guru. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. He wants that everyone must become a guru. How? That He says:

yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa

[Cc. Madhya 7.128]

This is guru. Suppose you are family member. So many living entities, you sons, your daughters, your daughter-in-law, or children, you can become their guru. Exactly like this you can sit down in the evening and talk about the Bhagavad-gītā, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. You haven't got to manufacture something. The instruction is there; you simply repeat and let them hear—you become guru. It is not difficult at all.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Nairobi, October 28, 1975: So the Vedic injunction is brahma-niṣṭham. That is guru, one who has full knowledge in Brahman. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. So here also in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find who is guru. Tattva-darśinaḥ. Tad-vijñāna... Tattva-darśinaḥ, one who has seen the truth. Never says this magic player, no. Tattva-darśinaḥ. This is the greatest magic, brahma-niṣṭham. That is the greatest magic, how to become fixed up in Brahman.

Lecture on BG 7.2 -- Nairobi, October 28, 1975: So Kṛṣṇa is showing practically by accepting His friend, very dear friend, as His disciple. That means he is showing who is guru. Guru is Kṛṣṇa and one who understands Kṛṣṇa. That is guru. Don't accept these rascals and fools as guru, who denies Kṛṣṇa. He is not guru. He is cheater. Kṛṣṇa is showing, and Arjuna is accepting, śiṣyas te 'ham [Bg. 2.7], "I become your śiṣya." That means Kṛṣṇa is the original guru. And one who speaks on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, he is guru. That is guru. This is the test: whether he is aware of Kṛṣṇa. Then he is guru. Otherwise he's not guru. First of all you understand that.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Bombay, February 18, 1974: You must accept guru. Who is guru? Samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham [MU 1.2.12]. Guru's qualification is that he's śrotriyam: he has heard from his guru perfectly. That is guru. Śrotriyam. And brahma-niṣṭham: and firmly fixed up at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. These are two qualifications. You cannot move from that firmness. You cannot move. And he has heard about Kṛṣṇa from the authorities of guru. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam [Bg. 4.2]. That is guru. So that is recommended. If you want to know Kṛṣṇa, then tad-vijñānārtham. In order to understand that science, then you must approach guru.

Lecture on BG 13.1-2 -- Miami, February 25, 1975: First of all find out such person whom, upon whom you have full faith that whatever he will say, you will accept. That is guru. If you think that you know better than your guru, then there is no use. First of all you find out the person that one who is better than you. Then you submit. Therefore the rules and regulation are that nobody should accept blindly any guru, and nobody should blindly accept any disciple. They must behave, one another, at least for one year so that the prospective disciple can also understand, "whether I can accept this person as my guru," and the prospective guru also can understand, "whether this person can become my disciple." This is the instruction by Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Hari-bhakti-vilāsa.